Armed Man Robs Liquor Store

LAUDERHILL — A masked bandit brandishing a handgun tied up two employees of a Crown Lounge Saturday night, robbed the business of $3,297.23, and then fled in one of the employee`s cars, police said.

Tamarac police recovered Jeff Bergeth`s Ford Maverick about one-half mile from the lounge, but not until after Bergeth and clerk Terri McElroy spent 20 minutes in the men`s bathroom with their hands tied behind their backs.

``He must have hidden in the stock room earlier in the day,`` Bergeth said.

Bergeth said he went to the bathroom about 8:10 p.m., just after closing time for the business in the 5000 block of University Drive. But when he came out, a man wearing a black bag over his head pointed a handgun at him and lead him back into the bathroom.

After tying Bergeth`s hands and legs behind his back, the robber went into the liquor store and ordered McElroy to empty the contents of the cash register in a red gym bag he provided, police said.

McElroy said that after she gave the gunman all the store`s cash, he tied her up in the bathroom with Bergeth. While the two employees sat in the bathroom wondering if the robber would come back and shoot them, McElroy`s boyfriend arrived to pick her up. The robber, who had shed his black mask for a security badge, told McElroy`s boyfriend she would get a ride home with the store manager.

Bergeth said the robber also stole some bottles of expensive champagne, wine glasses and about $100 from McElroy.